Former real estate agent Penny Gosling De Jesus told a Supreme Court Civil trial her former employer had flip flopped on whether a third agent would be paid from her half of the commission and from the company's share.

And Mrs. De Jesus' sister, Nancy Gosling - who was representing the Gosling family - told the court she was not influenced by a demand that her sister continue through with the sale after her termination, saying she separates "business" and familial relationships.

Beverly Sgobba, owner of CRE Properties (formerly Collier Real Estate) is suing Mrs. De Jesus for $175,000 in lost earnings of the sale of the "Green Shutters" building on Burnaby Street to the Bermuda Government in 1995.

Mrs. Sgobba claims that Mrs. De Jesus was an agent of CRE when she made introductions between Nancy Gosling and the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) which was looking for a new headquarters in 1994.

The property was sold to the BMA in 1995 but the commission - at a flat rate of $100,000 rather than the normal five percent, on the request of Gosling Bros - was split by Mrs. Gosling and her then employer, Joy Lusher Real Estate.

Mrs. De Jesus' employment with Collier Real Estate had been terminated, by a letter on December 9, 1994.

The letter was said to terminate her employment with the exception of continuing as the sales agent on the sale of the Green Shutters property.

Nancy Gosling however, terminated the listing agreement with Collier Real Estate on December 29, and in court cited the demand that her sister continue as the agent although her employment had been terminated, as "unprofessional and unreasonable".

But, Mrs. Gosling said she was not unduly influenced by the family connection, saying: "I did not terminate the listing because I was mad about my sister. Business comes before my sister."

Mrs. De Jesus, who now lives in Florida and is no longer a real estate agent, said she started with Collier Real Estate in the first week of October, 1994 after passing her real estate exam.

She said: "It was apparent that I had to find clients or listings. I knew my sister (Nancy Gosling) had a building for sale and I was hoping to get an exclusive listing, as I was her sister."

But Nancy Gosling refused to give her sister exclusive listing rights, and Mrs. De Jesus enlisted the help of the Collier Real Estate office manager, referred to as `Vera', in drawing up a listing agreement.

She said the agreement was then filled in by Nancy Gosling and signed by Mrs. Sgobba. Mrs. De Jesus claimed that it was she who suggested to Mrs. Sgobba that they seek outside assistance in marketing the property.

"I said to Beverly that she did not have any more experience in commercial real estate than I did. And I asked if I could contact Alan Forrest," Penny Gosling said, explaining that he had been a surveyor and experienced in commercial real estate.

She added: "I felt it would be a far better idea to have Alan market the property."

Mrs. Gosling said Mrs. Sgobba had asked what Mr. Forrest's intent would be, but she said she had not even met with him to ask his opinion on the property.

"Beverly's attitude was that she did not know who Alan was, but did not have any problems with it. But she made it clear that should he require a fee, that would not be the responsibility of Collier, but would come out of my share of the commission.

"And that he would in no way be employed by Collier," Mrs. De Jesus said. She added that $12,000 was agreed as a fee for Mr. Forrest should a sale result and a site visit by Mrs. Gosling and Mr. Forrest followed.

Mrs. De Jesus said: "While on site Alan said the space would be perfect for the Bermuda Monetary Authority. And the next day he called me and said Marcia Allwood (deputy manager of the BMA) would be willing to meet with me as the salesperson."

Mrs. De Jesus said she, on the advice of her sister Mrs. Gosling, had approached Mrs. Sgobba to say in the event of a sale that Mr. Forrest's $12,000 should be paid "off the top", and not from her share of the commission.

"It was highly unlikely (at that time) that this sale was to come to any fruition. And it was more important to establish for future practice. But I felt it was unfair to take the fee from my commission as Alan's involvement was instrumental to the sale. At first Beverly said no, but as we continued the discussion, she was not happy about it but agreed to pay his fee `off the top'."

Mrs. Gosling said that meeting took place around 5.30 p.m. but that another telephone conversation followed when Mrs. Sgobba telephoned her at 12.45 a.m.

"The telephone rang and woke me up. It was Beverly. She was absolutely furious and said she would not pay the fee, and said that I had gone back on my word to pay out of my commission. I told her she had gone back on her word of earlier in the day."

She called the conversation `unpleasant' and said it had been followed by a call from office manager Vera in the morning to collect her letter of termination.

But Mrs. Sgobba asked her to continue to act as the agent on the sale of the Green Shutters property. She was however barred from Collier Real Estate, and said had no further discussions with Mrs. Sgobba.

By July 1995 Mrs. De Jesus said there was renewed interest from the BMA for the building and she was working for Joy Lusher Real Estate when Nancy gosling listed the property with her.

The renewed interest, she explained came from a chance encounter between Mr. Forrest and Ms Allwood.

Mr. Forrest had reportedly told Ms Allwood that there may be a chance to "get a deal" as the Gosling's were concerned that the property market could suffer if the referendum on independence vote the following month was in favour of independence.

Negotiations and numerous site visits ensued with the property being sold to the BMA for $2.95 million - compared to its reported book value of $4 million - and the BMA assuming responsibility for stamp duty on the sale.

Representing Mrs. Sgobba, lawyer Saul Froomkin said his case that Collier Real Estate had been behind the whole deal with the BMA.

He said: "We say we were the affected cause of the sale. That's a legal concept which includes introduction by the agent, showing by the agent, and negotiations by the agent. We see introduction being the most important part."

The case continues today before Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller. Lawyer Mark Diel is representing Penny Gosling De Jesus.